Summary
Energy costs of mouthbrooding were investigated in the East African maternal mouthbrooder Pseudocrenilabrus multicolor by measuring rates of oxygen consumption. Mothers with their brood in the mouth expended 15.7% more energy than mothers without their brood and 13.8% more than starving nonreproductive controls. After subtracting the energy expenditure of the brood, the excess is reduced to 4.7% and 3.2%, respectively, a difference that is not statistically significant. By contrast, feeding nonreproductive females expended more than twice as much energy as the other groups. We conclude that mouthbrooding is a low-cost strategy profiting from investments made during the preceding nonreproductive phase. The implications for the evolution of mouthbrooding are discussed within the context of ecological constraints.
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Mrowka, W., Schierwater, B. Energy expenditure for mouthbrooding in a cichlid fish. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 22, 161–164 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00300565
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00300565